


Pictures Last

by grayscalee



Category: Achievement Hunter
Genre: But mostly angst, Fake AH Crew, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, NOT (AND I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH) ABOUT REAL LIVE PEOPLE, Pining, Plot Twists, Prompt Fic, get buckled in lol, you dont have to treat it like jeremwood if you somehow can read it otherwise lol, youll meet my blade if you try to treat this like a fanfic about the actual real live people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18794260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayscalee/pseuds/grayscalee
Summary: Jeremy didnt know how right he was when commenting that a photo would last Ryan longer than staring at him.Based onthisprompt i talked about, since there seemed to be interest!





	Pictures Last

After another very long, and _very_ eventful day with the fakes, Ryan found himself sitting on the edge of a random building's rooftop looking out over Los Santos. The sun was low in the sky, and the crew had only just wrapped up the days 'work'.

 

“So, how about today huh?"

 

"Huh-" Ryan snapped out of his daze to look over at Jeremy, who’d finally taken a seat beside him when the question registered "You know, I don’t know what you’re talking about."

 

Jeremy laughed as he grabbed the bag he’d haphazardly slung down onto the roof earlier, pulling out a soda. Somehow, it didn't explode when he opened it.

 

"You got anything in there for me?"

 

"Of course! Who do you take me for?"

 

Ryan happily took the diet coke from Jeremy once he fished it out, but the familiar crack of it opening was soon followed by a spray of foam shooting out at him. He wasn't so lucky, it seemed.

 

Ryan wiped some of the drink from his face, as Jeremy did his best to hide his reaction, though he failed miserably as he fell into a fit of quiet laughter.

 

 _"Ryan_ ," Jeremy started between laughs "Ry, oh no, _buddy_."

 

His reaction had almost convinced him to not retaliate, but Ryan only had one chance to get payback and years for the chance to make him laugh again, so the choice was pretty easy.

 

The two of them met eyes, and the sinister smirk creeping onto Ryan's face quickly quieted him down, as he pieced together what was about to happen. " _Ohh_ no, you stay right where you are Vagabond-"

 

Ryan cut him off by lunging towards him, knocking him back onto the roof with a bit more force than he intended. They both fell into silence as they processed the situation in front of them, but Jeremy was the first to have a reaction.

 

"Gee Ryan, I assumed you were a top but you didn't have to _show_ me-"

 

The smirk on Ryan’s face quickly faded into a look of embarrassment, as he hastily tried to push himself away. He was used to their usual banter, but this time he barely even managed to sputter out a _‘You-!’_ as he felt his face heating up.

 

Jeremy only laughed as he stood up to dust himself off, offering his hand to help Ryan up.

  


 

The two of them sat together on the roof for a while, talking about anything that came to mind. After unintentionally reminding Jeremy just how afraid of heights he was, they’d ended up moving further back from the edge to help calm his nerves a little, although it had only been a small bump in their conversation. Once the sun had started to set though, Ryan realized just how long they'd spent sitting together. He was going to suggest they head somewhere, but the thought was lost when he looked over at Jeremy.

 

He couldn't help but slowly take in the scene in front of him, cherishing every moment of it.

 

Like the way that the sun caught his face as he spoke, gently glowing against his skin. Or how, if you didn't know any better, you'd think the sunset was inspired by Jeremy himself, how the symphony of colours seemed to be a softer, comforting reflection of the man in front of him. And how the city, caught aglow amidst it all, seemed to happily soak everything in to show off to the world.

 

How it all looked the way Jeremy made him feel.

 

"Hello? Earth to Ry? Is there something on my face?"

 

Ryan realized how long he'd probably been staring blankly at him, and scrambled for a reasonable excuse. "Uh… No, it's just that you… The sky seems to have contracted your awful taste..."

 

Jeremy slowly looked up at the sky, before snorting and swatting at him. "Oh _har har_ Ryan, if it's so amusing why not take a picture, it'll last longer you know."

 

"Maybe I _will, Jeremy_." Ryan pulled out his phone and took a picture of him, doing his best to capture as much of the moment as he could.

 

Jeremy only gently shoved him in response, laughing as they sat together on the rooftop.

  


 

The world was a blur.

 

God only knew what time it was, and Ryan found himself struggling for air as he collapsed back down onto the hard ground below him.

 

The adrenalin was fading from his body but he wished to anyone listening that it hadn't, because now he was freezing, and tired, and alone somewhere he couldn't quite place.

 

A roof building, he gathered, but he couldn't place which one.

 

Ryan wasn't over emotional. He was the complete opposite. Stone cold in moments of high pressure and high emotion.

 

So why the hell were there tears rolling down his face?

 

Why was the sudden loneliness he felt so soul crushing?

 

A question he wished he didn't ask, as memories flooded back to him piece by horrid piece.

 

_Geoff, telling him to get the fuck out of there before anything worse happened._

 

_Jack, who could only look at him with horror and grief in her eyes._

 

Ryan struggled to catch his breath as more of the night flooded back to him, barely managing to hold himself up.

 

_Gavin going to follow him, but Michael dragging him off in another direction._

 

He'd never been this affected by heists and their events, but even now he could hear the gunshots piercing through the air, the invasive tang of metal that he could barely manage to breath through.

 

_Even as he was alone in the dark, he could feel the weight of Jeremy, his body sunken into Ryan's arms, and the warmth of blood pooling underneath them._

 

_His actions seemed almost mechanical as he brushed blood off the other man's face, completely numb to the situation in front of him._

 

He wished he was still numb to it now.

  


 

A day had passed, give or take.

 

Ryan found himself back on the same roof he'd ran to after given the order to flee.

 

The same roof, he'd now realized, that he had spent the last night he'd ever get with a man now lying in a morgue.

 

It was funny, he thought, how out of himself he was that the only place he'd even thought to go was a place where things had been okay. Where they were happy.

 

Happy, and _alive_.

 

He didn't know how long had passed as he'd stared out onto Los Santos, and he only came back to his senses when he found himself pulling up an image.

 

It was the very image of Jeremy he'd taken on this roof. Where the world was okay, and all they could care about was finally relaxing.

 

Jeremy looked so carefree, with stars glistening in his eyes and a smile embodying all the happiness in the world. It looked as if he'd been looking past the camera, and he felt everything inside him ache knowing he was somehow the focus of Jeremy's attention even despite the world around them.

 

He wished he could fully lose himself in the image. Find himself back there, two nights ago, even just to cherish the moment with the knowledge of what was to come.

 

But he was here, left lost without the one thing that had truly felt like home.

  


 

About a week later, or what he guessed it to be, Ryan still couldn't find the will to do more than merely exist. He'd lie in the dark of his home, stuck.

 

Stuck rethinking every minute, suck wondering what might have stopped this all. Suck, as if he'd been broken to rewind that day again and again.

 

Occasionally he'd get restless and visit the roof again, and on certain days when he stays until the sun begins to set, he expects to turn around and see Jeremy there, waiting for him.

 

But the sky always seems a little more dull, and he's never there when Ryan looks.

 

On one of his visits, about a few days ago, a woman on a balcony below him started to sing alongside an instrument, likely practicing. She faltered at parts, but seemed more confident about others.

 

She'd sung about falling in love, about taking her hand, and her whole life, and it makes his heart ache so he does his best to tune it out.

 

He stopped visiting after that day.

 

Any time he'd thought of something to do, some way to pass the time, he's only reminded of the very thing he'd been seeking a break from. Instead, he's taken to lying on the cold floor of his living room, as he was doing today.

 

When a faint knock at the door stirs him from his thoughts, the air of familiarity to it seems to spark a sudden irritation in him.

 

"If that's one of you _idiots_ , I swear." He threatens, though his voice is too rough and tired to hold any malice behind it.

 

The lack of response would've worried him, had he not been exhausted and emotionally drained, but instead he finds himself mindlessly pushing himself up and opening the door. When it slowly cracks open, he finds himself speechless and wondering if he'd died a week ago as well.

 

Ryan somehow found himself face to face with a living and breathing Jeremy, looking as if he rolled out of a hospital bed and onto his doorstep.

 

"Well, you look like shit Rye."

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope this lived up to your expectations, for those of you who showed interest from the beginning! Bits may be a little rusty, since It's been so long since ive written and itd shorter than id like, but I'm still pretty proud of how it turned out!
> 
> Also, feel free to let me know if you guys would want a (definitely longer) part 2 for this! (I may or may not already have ideas brewing ;3c )
> 
>  
> 
> [tumbl](http://grayscalee.tumblr.com)
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day, and help anxiety go away.


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